The-Tibetan-Book-of-Living-and-Dying

THE GROUND 267so, the more our habits dissolve, and the less of a differencethere is between meditation and everyday life. Gradually youbecome like someone who can walk straight out into the gardenthrough the glass door, unobstructed. And the sign thatthe ground of the ordinary mind is weakening is that we areable to rest more and more effortlessly in the nature of mind.When the Ground Luminosity dawns, the crucial issue willbe how much we have been able to rest in the nature ofmind, how much we have been able to unite our absolutenature and our everyday life, and how much we have beenable to purify our ordinary condition into the state of primordialpurity.THE MEETING OF MOTHER AND CHILDThere is a way in which we can prepare completely to recognizethe dawning of the Ground Luminosity at the momentof death. This is through the very highest level of meditation(as I have explained in Chapter 10, "The Innermost Essence"),the final fruition of the practice of Dzogchen. It is called the"union of two luminosities," which is also known as "themerging of Mother and Child Luminosities."The Mother Luminosity is the name we give to the GroundLuminosity. This is the fundamental, inherent nature of everything,which underlies our whole experience, and which manifestsin its full glory at the moment of death.The Child Luminosity, also called the Path Luminosity, isthe nature of our mind, which, if introduced by the master,and if recognized by us, we can then gradually stabilizethrough meditation, and more and more completely integrateinto our action in life. When the integration is complete,recognition is complete and realization occurs.Even though the Ground Luminosity is our inherent natureand the nature of everything, we do not recognize it, and itremains as if hidden. I like to think of the Child Luminosity asa key the master gives us to help us open the door to therecognition of the Ground Luminosity, whenever the opportunityarises.Imagine that you have to meet a woman arriving by plane.If you have no idea what she looks like, you might go to theairport and she could walk right past you and you would missher. If you have a photo of her that is a good likeness, andyou have a good picture of her in your mind, then you willrecognize her as soon as she approaches you.